Court acquits Suva soccer players October 15, 2008
Suva soccer players Yogesh Narayan and Cedric Datt were today acquitted by the magistrates court.
They were charged with assaulting referee Dhiren Kewal after the Battle of the Giants semi-final in July, which the capital city side lost 3-2 to Labasa.
The court found that the statements given by the witnesses did not match and the magistrate Amani Rokotinaviti found no reason to continue with the trial.
The players and team manager Riyaz Dean were charged with the offence, which they denied.
The court heard that the players and manager assaulted Kewal after blaming him for the loss.
The court earlier ordered that the three accused tried to reconcile with the referee, but this did not eventuate.
